


Friends like These

by LastDragonborn25



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Explicit Language, Fluff, Friendship, Pre-Canon, Secret Crush, slow burn for reddie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-26 02:23:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20734703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastDragonborn25/pseuds/LastDragonborn25
Summary: Richie had always been mildly obsessed with Eddie. Of course, he could never let him see it. What would his friends think? He was okay with being best friends though. That would never change.





	1. Let's Go Sledding

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I've now spent like $30 at the theater seeing Chapter 2 for the 3rd time, not counting snacks ugh! But I love this movie and the IT universe! So here's some Reddie friendship stuff I whipped up just cause. Maybe it will become more of a relationship type of thing, right now it's more of that secret crush stuff. Anyway, hope y'all like it!

Richie Tozier hated school. He had never been able to focus on the work, finding his thoughts wandering and unable to complete most of the assignments given to him. He hated school because he got into trouble with his teachers. He hated school because that's where Henry Bowers was, the worst bully on Earth. He hated school for many reasons, but he went every day. 

Why? His friends, that's why. His friends were the only redeeming factor about that horrible brick building, with its long hallways and rooms full of desks. How he despised that place.

But his friends were always there to help him through the day. With them, he could be himself. With them, despite everything, he felt like he could go on. 

It was the year of 1988. Snow blanketed the town of Derry, Maine and Christmas was weeks away. Richie tapped his pencil against his cheek, staring out the window of his classroom, not paying any mind to the equations he was supposed to be solving. Sledding. He felt like sledding. He wondered if his friends would feel the same. Bill might not want to go. He wasn't doing well. He spent most of his time obsessing over the loss of his brother, which was fresh in everyone's minds. It had only been a month and three days since George Denbrough had disappeared. Richie didn't like to think about it. Bill was one of his best friends, and he'd seen little Georgie plenty of times, even included him in their games. The fact that he was missing was a terrifying prospect. Everyone still hoped he'd turn up.

Richie turned his thoughts back to sledding. So Bill was a hard maybe. He wondered if Stan might want to go with him? Stan Uris usually liked things kept neat and orderly, and rough play like sledding wasn't his favorite thing to do. He preferred to build snow forts and sit inside drinking hot cocoa. 

His only other friend was Eddie Kaspbrak. Of course he wouldn't go sledding. That boy was way too worried about an injury, or catching a cold, or getting cancer. 

Richie sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose, staring at the clock. He'd probably be sledding alone today.

***

"I can't. S-sorry R-R-Richie," Bill said when Richie asked him if he wanted to go to the sled hill.

"Aw, come on Bill! It's the first real good snow," Richie said as they walked through the hall, doing their best to avoid the hustle and bustle of all the other students trying to leave.

"I gotta put up more p-p-p-posters," Bill said, his head drooping a bit.

"Oh, yeah. No problem," Richie said.

He had figured he knew why Bill didn't want to go. As persistent as Richie was, he knew when to drop it when his best friend got like that.

"Hey guys," Stan joined them, catching up from amongst the crowd.

"Stan the Man! It's high time we went for a good old romp down at the sled hill!" Richie saluted the curly haired boy, putting on his best British accent.

Stan rolled his eyes, his posture stiffening.

"Not today Richie. I have to go home, my cousins are visiting."

"Fuck your cousins!"

"G-gross," Bill said, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.

Richie burst out laughing.

"And I thought I had a dirty mind! Jesus Bill, get it out of the gutter."

They all laughed. 

"What's so funny? Did I miss something?" The last friend of their group rushed over to them, taking his place between Bill and Richie, Stan just behind them.

"Eds! Sweet Jesus, my last and only hope! You, my good man, are clearing your calendar today!" Richie said loudly, throwing an arm around the smallest boy's shoulders. 

Eddie wrinkled his forehead, pushing Richie off of him.

"Why?"

"To go sledding! Come on, these Losers are blowing me off, I want to play outside for once," Richie said, throwing his hands in the air.

"I'd rather not," Eddie said, to Richie's ultimate frustration.

"Seriously? Fine, go home and jerk off, I'll go sledding by myself!"

"Fuck off Richie, it's cold outside! I don't want to get sick," Eddie replied to Richie's outburst.

"Aha! I knew it, I fucking knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"That you'd say that, exactly that! You are way too predictable Eds!"

"Okay, first of all, don't fucking call me Eds! I fucking hate it! And just so you know, frostbite is a very real, very serious-"

"Here we g-g-go," Bill rolled his eyes.

Stan smirked, as a few others in the hall turned their heads to the arguing friends. They reached the end of the hall, heading out into the cold late November air.

"-just because you're afraid a little cold weather's gonna make your dick fall off, and now I've gotta go down there alone like a  _ loser _ -"

"Guys! Shut up!" Stan said, pulling his red scarf around his face.

"You know what, fine! You win!" Eddie said, zipping his puffy coat all the way to his chin.

Richie stopped, his eyes lighting up.

"I win? So you'll come with me?"

"If it shuts you up for five minutes, sure! Fine!"

Both Stan and Bill exchanged a look of amusement. Richie usually won his arguments by wearing down the other person with incessant insults and loudness. They both knew Eddie never lasted long against him.

"Well, have f-f-fun guys. S-see you tomorrow," Bill said, already pulling a stack of posters and a stapler from his backpack, pinning one to the pole just at the edge of the sidewalk.

Richie beamed.

"Oh, we will! A fucking blast!" He clapped his hand on Eddie's shoulder.

Maybe he'd get Eddie to actually enjoy himself. Maybe.


	2. The Big Hill

"No way. Not a fucking chance," Eddie said, backing away from the edge of the hill.

It was the highest part, the drop seemed to go straight down, the snow packed by brave kids between two large trees in a narrow path.

"Oh Eds, come on! It's not that bad," Richie said, grinning.

Both of their cheeks were red with the cold, but neither was concerned with that at the moment. Only the daunting hill in front of them. There were plenty of others here, sledding down the big hill and climbing back up. Most younger, a few their age, a handful of older kids. None were near this spot though. 

"Okay, Richie, listen. I'm really not ready to die, and I really don't want you to be the reason. So fuck you, let's go back over there. Seriously."

"Eds... You know you want too..." Richie said, his grin spreading ear to ear, peering at Eddie through his fogged up glasses. 

Eddie looked down at the hill, bit his lip, and pulled his inhaler from his coat pocket, shaking it and taking a deep puff. Richie laughed.

"Okay, on three!" He grabbed Eddie around the middle. 

"Wait, fucking stop!"

"One!"

"No!"

"Two!"

"Richie, seriously, I'm serious!"

"Three!"

Richie threw Eddie onto the long, plastic sled, the smaller asthmatic boy landing with a shriek face down on it.

"Not face first!"

Richie jumped onto the sled after him, settling on Eddie's legs so he couldn't move, and gave a mighty shove. Eddie shrieked as they went over the edge, flying down the hill impossibly fast. Richie laughed wildly as they approached the narrow path between the trees, Eddie screamed in terror. They flew neatly between them, coming to the slope at the bottom of the hill, and over a small bump at the bottom. It was enough to send both boys flying through the air, the sled continuing below them. Richie felt it happen in slow motion, and he imagined he was Superman. He flung out his arms and allowed himself to come crashing down into the snow. It was soft and fluffy, not hurting him a bit. What did hurt was having the wind knocked out of him by Eddie, who landed directly on top of him. 

Both of them lay there breathing heavily. Richie could hear Eddie wheezing. He wiped the snow from his glasses, finding Eddie's face inches from his own. For a moment, his heart fluttered and he felt warm. A fleeting thought. 

"Um, dude? Get off me," Richie said, though he was grinning.

"Gladly," Eddie said, pulling himself off of Richie and rolling over onto his back, reaching for his inhaler again.

"That was so. Fucking. Sweet!" Richie emphasized each word.

"Fuck you! I nearly died!"

Richie laughed and ruffled Eddie's hat, causing it to go askew, much to his annoyance. He struggled to fix it.

"Eds, I just realized something," Richie said, grinning.

"What?"

"We went down that hill faster than I went down on your Mom!"

Eddie punched Richie's arm, though it didn't hurt. Richie laughed so hard he was nearly in tears.

"That's so not funny, asshole!"

"It's p-pretty fucking f-f-funny!" Richie laughed so hard he sounded like Bill. 

Eddie just shook his head, watching his friend roll in the snow, laughing harder than he ever had at one of his own stupid jokes. Why he tolerated Richie Tozier, Eddie had no idea. There was just something about him, that was completely irresistible. He was such an asshole, but he was funny, and daring, and kind when he wanted to be. Eddie shook his head again, clearing away those strange thoughts. 

"Come on fuckface. Let's do the small one this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truth be told, I wasn't even sure about this story when I wrote it. People seem to like it though! Perhaps I'll keep going :)


	3. Movie Night

"Seriously Eds, I cleaned my room. I promise it's not gross, and you've got that sterile sleeping bag right? Come on, your Mom actually said yes for once!"

"Yeah, I know! I get it, just, are you sure your carpet it clean? My allergies-"

"Dude, it's fine. You've slept on my floor before!"

"I know, Jesus! Alright, fine," Eddie said, as they walked up the steps to Richie's house. 

They let themselves in, pulling off their wet coats and hats, kicking off their boots and shaking as much snow back outside as they could.

"Richie honey, where have you been?" Mrs. Tozier called from the living room.

"I was out sledding Mom! Eddie's staying the night!"

"Hello Eddie!" She called.

"Hi Mrs. Tozier!"

"Alight, so movie?" Richie asked, his cheeks red from spending hours outside in the cold.

"Yeah."

"A scary one!"

"Richie, you know I don't-"

"Friday the Thirteenth it is!"

The boys went upstairs, settling themselves in Richie's room. Eddie had to admit, he liked Richie's room. There was all sorts of cool stuff, posters everywhere, and his bed was huge. They both sat on it cross legged, Richie popping the movie into the VCR. It had been a good day. Eddie wasn't sure why he hadn't wanted to go sledding earlier. He wished that Bill and Stan had come along, but it was actually pretty enjoyable hanging out with just Richie. It had been Richie's idea to have a sleepover, of course. Eddie figured they were getting a bit old for 'sleepovers' but Richie didn't seem to care. It was something they'd always done. Though thinking about it, Eddie wasn't sure he'd ever had a sleepover with just Richie before. He had all the time with Bill, but that was different. Bill was like a big brother to Eddie, though he'd never say that out loud. Usually when they had sleepovers where Richie was involved, they were joined by the other two, or at least one of them. It was the second weird thought Eddie had had today.

"Make sure you don't piss your pants on my bed, alright?" Richie said.

Eddie scoffed.

"I'm not gonna piss myself, dipshit."

"Hey, I'm just saying! You get scared easy!"

"I don't," Eddie grumbled.

"It's okay though, it's actually pretty cute," Richie said with a shit eating grin.

"Fuck you dude, for real."

"You'd like that, huh Eds?"

"Shut the fuck up and play the movie!"

***

Eddie didn't want to admit it, but the movie was scary. Every time that fucking music played, even though he knew the killer was going to pop up and butcher someone, he gripped the comforter of Richie's bed tightly. He caught himself doing this several times, quickly and discreetly checking to see if Richie had noticed. Richie was way into the movie though, the light of the television illuminating his thick glasses and his mouth hanging agape as he watched intently, not turning away from the screen. Richie loved movies, so it didn't surprise Eddie that he was oblivious to anything else. 

At a particularly scary part, Eddie jumped and spilled popcorn on his lap. Richie didn't even notice that, and he didn't jump either. This annoyed Eddie a bit. Near the end of the movie, a loud scare made Eddie jump again. This time, his heart pounding, he gripped the comforter with his right hand, while his left hand grasped Richie's right. This time, Richie did look away. He looked down at Eddie's hand on top of his, then up at Eddie's face. It was hard to tell in the dark room, and where their cheeks had been so pink with cold earlier, but he could have sworn he saw Eddie blush. He yanked his hand away quickly and aggressively, Richie laughing.

"Fuck, sorry," Eddie grumbled.

How embarrassing. 

It was a quick interaction, and Richie went right back to the screen, but Eddie knew he wouldn't let that one go. Damn.

When the movie ended, Richie turned to Eddie.

"Scary, huh?"

"No," Eddie said unconvincingly.

"Very scary?"

"I wasn't scared!"

"So... Not scary at all?"

"Yeah, not scary at all!" Eddie said defensively.

"Then why'd you grab my hand?"

Richie was right. Eddie's face did get red.

"It was just loud, it surprised me! Fuck off man," Eddie said.

"Goddamnit you're cute when you lie," Richie said, his grin widening.

"Fuck you!"

After watching a far less scary movie at Eddie's request, it was nearly midnight. Richie yawned.

"Ready for bed? Don't forget, we're going to Bill's tomorrow for lunch," Richie said. 

"Yeah I'm ready," Eddie said, unrolling his sleeping bag onto the floor. 

Richie sat up in bed, watching him. He decided that it was one of the best days he'd had in awhile, probably since last summer. Who knew that paranoid, angry, hypochondriac Eddie could be so much fun? He wasn't always uptight and annoyed though. Eddie himself could be rather annoying, immature. Of course, they were young still. Who wasn't annoying and immature at their age?

Richie smirked as Eddie inspected the floor. Once it was to his liking, Richie shut off the light. They talked for a little while. They talked about school, and how they hated Henry Bowers, and how they worried about Bill. Eventually, both boys were beginning to drift off, their responses getting slower and dragged out.

"Night Eds," Richie finally mumbled.

"Night Trashmouth." 

They were both asleep right after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing this chapter :) Hope y'all enjoy it!


	4. Bad Dreams, Good Friends

Eddie woke up from the nightmare in a cold sweat. He looked around wildly, expecting a machete wielding killer to be standing over him. It took a moment to remember where he was. Eddie scrambled for his inhaler in his fanny pack on the floor. He took a deep puff from it and breathed out. His heart was still racing though. Dammit, that stupid movie had gotten to him. He felt very vulnerable and defenseless in his sterile sleeping bag on the floor. Sitting up, he looked up at Richie's queen size bed. His friend was sound asleep, snoring slightly, mouth open. His glasses sat on the bedside table, making his eyes look different. It looked like he'd gotten to hot under his blankets, kicking them off at some point to a heap at his feet. He wore cotton pajamas with a blue plaid pattern.

Eddie bit his lip. He was tired, but the thought of falling back into that nightmare was very unappealing. He slid quietly out of the sleeping bag and stood up. 

'Am I really this much of a pussy that I want to sleep next to Richie? In his fucking bed?'

Eddie debated it, sitting back down and pulling his sleeping bag back over his legs. He didn't lie down though. 

'Fuck. Stupid movie. Stupid Richie.'

He got up again, and slowly crawled onto Richie's bed. It was massive, thank god. Eddie lay uncomfortably near the edge. He looked over, Richie was still sound asleep, his mouth open and snoring slightly. 

'Fuck it.'

Eddie rolled over, facing Richie. Good enough. He was close enough that he could feel his warmth. It was comforting, and the light snoring wasn't bothersome. It was kind of nice, in a way. It reminded Eddie that he wasn't alone. It didn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

***

When Richie woke up at 8:00 the next morning, the last thing he expected was to find that Eddie had crawled into bed with him. What he certainly didn't expect was that his small, asthmatic friend had wrapped himself around him. Richie was on his back. Eddie was on his side, left arm across Richie's chest, face buried in Richie's shoulder, their ankles crossed.

Richie lay there, bewildered. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He supposed Eddie had been scared by the movie last night. But it was so unlike him to want to be this close to Richie. Not that he was complaining. Eddie was warm, and his breath felt nice against his neck. It was a very comforting feeling, having someone so close. Richie felt his heart flutter, the same as yesterday, and butterflies in his stomach. Strange. Despite the growing need to pee, he didn't want this moment to end. He figured it probably would never happen again.

By 8:40, he couldn't hold it anymore.

"Eds? Eddie?" Richie whispered to his friend.

Eddie stirred a bit, pressing his face in closer to Richie's shoulder. Richie's heart may have melted just a bit.

"Eddie? Can I get up?" 

Eddie shifted, opened his eyes, and realized where he was. He also realized that at some point during the night, he'd wrapped himself around Richie. He very quickly flung himself off the other boy, rolling over and looking away, wide eyed, his heart beating fast.

Dammit! What was wrong with him?

"S-sorry. I had a bad dream last night..."

'_Fuck Eddie, what the hell kind of excuse is that? You practically just molested your friend in his sleep_!'

"That's alright Eds. You can sleep with me anytime," Richie said suggestively, grinning.

"Screw you."

Richie got up, heading to the bathroom. Eddie got up, changing quickly before Richie came back. At least he had been alright with Eddie climbing into bed with him. He supposed it could have been worse, Richie could have been upset or angry. He wasn't though. His joking had been surprisingly mild too.

"Come along my good man! Time for breakfast!" Richie bounded back into the room, doing one of his ridiculous voices. 

Eddie rolled his eyes and followed him downstairs. Mrs. Tozier had prepared them an amazing breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, ham, and orange juice. They stuffed themselves while watching cartoons.

After possibly one of the best breakfasts of all time, Eddie and Richie got ready to head to Bill’s house. It was a weekend tradition. The four friends gathered at Stuttering Bill’s at about noon every Saturday. They would have lunch, then get ready to go out wandering Derry. Lately, the friends had been helping Bill put up missing posters, or spread the word in any way they could to the townspeople. The only problem was, nobody seemed to care.

Bill wanted to explore the Barrens. Stan was hesitant, Richie was all for it, and Eddie wanted nothing to do with it. He would follow Bill anywhere, however. Bill had that kind of pull with his friends. Anywhere he went, they followed.

Richie had considered telling his friends all about how scared Eddie had been of the movie last night. He was itching to see Eddie blush and fumble for some lame excuse as to why he’d grabbed Richie’s hand during the movie. He did not want anyone to know that Eddie had slept in his bed, let alone curl up to him. Henry Bowers already called Richie a fairy at school, and he certainly didn’t need any more rumors about his sexuality getting back to Henry or anyone else.

Richie decided that it would be safest not to say anything.

When they got to Bill’s house, Stan was already there. The two boys were in Bill’s room, the radio playing soft rock in the background. They were both scribbling away in notebooks, focused on their work.

“Sup Losers?” Richie asked as they walked into Bill’s room, getting the usual “Hey” in return.

“What is this, study group? What the fuck guys?” 

“J-just taking n-n-notes,” Bill replied.

It was then that Eddie and Richie noticed the map of the Derry sewer works, a photo of the Barrens, and another map of the Town of Derry on the floor around them. Richie bit his lip, clearly realizing what was going on. He didn’t want to upset Bill.

“Mrs. Denbrough made sandwiches, if you guys want,” Stan motioned to a plate of sandwiches on the end table near Bill’s bed.

“Awesome, I’m fucking starving!” Richie exclaimed, grabbing a roast beef sandwich from the plate and taking a huge bite.

“How?” Eddie asked, taking only a half of a ham sandwich.

After breakfast, he wasn’t really hungry, but it was only polite to take some of the food he was offered. Richie chewed and swallowed loudly.

“Best fucking sandwich, thanks Bill!”

“Thank my M-m-mom.”

“I did last night!” Richie said, laughing.

“Beep beep, Richie,” Stan cut in, Richie snickering and Bill just shaking his head, though he was smiling.

“So what do you guys wanna do today?” Eddie asked between a bite of his sandwich.

“Snowball fight?” Richie suggested.

Bill grinned.

“S-Snowball fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reddie is a mild obsession lately. Here y'all go.


	5. Snowball Fight

Eddie peered over the top of the snow wall he had built. He didn’t see the ‘enemy’ anywhere. The snowball he was holding was making his mitten wet, but that didn’t matter. For some reason, all three of them had chased him through the woods, sending snowballs flying after him. It had been like being in a war. Snowballs pounded the ground around his feet, exploding off the trees near him, raining pellets of ice and snow down the back of his coat. Once he’d dove behind a cluster of trees, wheezing and using his inhaler, the attack had stopped.

Regrouping, he imagined. Fucking Stan was supposed to be on his team, but they must have negotiated some sort of peace treaty with him, turning him against Eddie. 

“Well he’s gotta be here somewhere,” Eddie heard Stan’s voice through the trees.

He ducked back down behind his wall. Fucking traitor. He’d make Stan pay.

“Oh Eds! Come out and plaaayyy!” Richie called in a high pitched, taunting voice.

Eddie could see him walking into the clearing, a snowball in each hand. Stan was hanging back, scouting the area. Bill was nowhere in sight. Eddie grinned to himself. Richie was right out in the open, looking all over for him. Eddie crawled through the snow to the edge of the wall, lining up a better shot.

“Eddie dearest, I can smell your breath from here! I’m gonna get youuu!”

‘Not today, Trashmouth. Not today.’

Eddie’s snowball, which he’d been holding for awhile and had packed down into a hard projectile, sailed through the air. It was the perfect throw, if not a bit too high. He’d meant to hit Richie in the chest. Instead, Richie was beamed directly in the face. 

“Gah!” He went down from the sudden impact, rolling in the snow.

His glasses were covered with snow, he couldn’t see, and that snowball had been really hard. It stung his already cold cheeks, and some had gone up his left nostril. He blew it out and gasped, trying to wipe the snow from his glasses. He could hear laughter.

“That was amazing!” Stan was saying.

“I was going for the chest,” Eddie laughed.

They were both standing over Richie, who had dropped both snowballs when he fell. Stan was smiling. Eddie had a downright evil grin playing on his lips.

“What do we do with him?”

“I say we dump snow down his pants!” Eddie said excitedly.

“Seriously, fuck you guys… Stan, you traitorous bastard, we had a treaty!”

“I just broke it,” Stan said, grabbing a big armload of snow.

“Eds, I swear to Christ, do not dump snow in my pants! Fuck off Staniel, fuck!” 

Just as they were grabbing him, ready to take home their victory trophy, two snowballs flew out from the treeline. The first nailed Stan in the back of the head, causing him to drop his armload of snow, while the second exploded off of Eddie’s ass. Richie turned in awe to see Bill running at them, shouting some kind of war cry, pelting more snowballs their way. With that, Richie sprang to his feet, scooping up handfuls of snow. The first he threw in Stan’s face, the second he shoved down the back of Eddie’s coat, making him shriek. Laughing, Bill and Richie began hammering their friends with snowball after snowball, until they were both down on the ground, shielding themselves from the onslaught.

“You win, you fucking win!” Stan yelled.

“Fuck, stop, stop!” Eddie flailed his arms.

Bill and Richie stopped, tentatively holding more snow, ready to attack.

They both burst out laughing at the sight of Stan and Eddie, covered head to toe in snow and cowering on the ground, their hands in the air.

“You s-s-s-surrender?” Bill asked with a grin.

“You- you fucks- yes,” Eddie wheezed, pulling his inhaler out of his pocket.

Both Bill and Richie plopped down in the snow next to them, before all four boys lay back to stare up at the snow covered canopy of trees.

“That was… fun,” Stan said, sounding unsure.

Richie snorted, which got the rest of them all laughing too. They laughed for a good long while.

“Wanna write our names in the snow?” Richie asked.

“No, a thousand times no,” Eddie said.

“I could write your Mom’s name.”

“Fuck you dude,” Eddie said, but he was smiling.

It was definitely the best weekend that any of them had had in the last month. Richie thought about asking them to stay at his place for the night, but another part of him wanted to ask only Eddie. It bothered him that he had that lingering thought, deciding it would be better to go home and try, God willing, to get some of his English essay done.

“Well guys, I gotta get home,” Stan was the first to get up, brushing the snow off his coat.

“Sayanora, Staniel,” Richie said.

“M-me too. See you g-guys at s-s-school.”

“Bye Bill,” Eddie said.

Despite the other two leaving, Eddie and Richie continued to lay in the snow.

“You think Bill will find Georgie?” Eddie asked suddenly.

Richie propped himself up on his elbow.

“I hope so. Nothing’s the same anymore.”

“Yeah, I know. I- I keep having this dream. About Bill,” Eddie said softly.

“Oohh, a sexy dream?” Richie snickered.

“Fuck you, no. No. It’s weird. I see him chasing his brother down the street, he keeps getting further away. It’s like I’m running too, beside him. Then his brother gets to that storm drain on Witcham, and he climbs in. Then we see it’s not him in the drain, it’s… It’s a clown.”

“A fucking clown? I hate clowns,” Richie said.

“It seems so real, and it’s usually the same dream. That same fucking clown, waving at us from the sewer.”

“Well… Like you said, it’s just a dream, right?” Richie was looking at Eddie intently, watching the concern and fear in his expression.

Part of him wanted to reach out, hug him, comfort him somehow. But that was very Un-Richie. 

“Yeah. Just a dream. Hey, I gotta go Rich. My Mom’s probably worried sick.”

“Yeah, okay,” Richie agreed, keeping his mouth in check for once.

They walked together back through the woods, following Bill and Stan’s footprints in the snow. They walked together through town, all the way to Eddie’s house, chatting occasionally about nothing important. 

“Richie,” Eddie said from his front porch as Richie continued, their goodbye’s already said.

Richie stopped and turned, looking back at Eddie through his thick, fogged up glasses.

“Thanks… For this weekend, I mean. I had fun.”

Eddie looked, dare he say it, bashful? Richie grinned.

“No problem Eds. We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah, as long as you don’t call me Eds. You know I fucking hate it.”

“You’re fucking cute when you’re mad,” Richie said with a grin.

“I hate that more! Do not call me cute, asshole!”

“Bye!” Richie took his cue, turning to jog home.

“Bye,” Eddie said quietly, more to himself than Richie.

He shook his head, turning back to the door. He really didn’t know why he liked Richie so much. Out of all his friends, Richie was definitely the biggest asshole of the group. It had been a really great weekend though, most of it spent with just Richie. Eddie didn’t really understand it. He didn’t understand it at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a few days to update, work has been dragging me down but I'm on vacation now so I'll be writing more this week! Hope this chapter was worth the wait :)


End file.
